Judge Rules Couple's Mail Can Be Seized

December 26, 1985|By United Press International

TAMPA — A federal judge has granted a U.S. Postal Service request to seize mail addressed to the post office box of a couple charged with racketeering and violating securities laws through a pyramid investment scheme.

U.S. District Judge William J. Castagna said postal officials can examine mail to Maher Publishing Co. at a Tampa address.

Castagna's order issued Monday said Betty and Jimmie Maher may continue to receive mail not determined to be connected with the suspected activity.

The Mahers were arrested Dec. 6 in what Assistant State Attorney Chris Hoyer described as a ''major Ponzi scheme.''

The couple is accused of offering investors automatic profits in Good News, a monthly newsletter. Authorities said the newsletter offered a return of up to $500 on investments as small as $18.

The scheme allegedly brought in $30,000 to $40,000 daily from Tampa-area investors and some from as far away as Rhode Island, California and Washington, officials said.

Authorities got a court order to freeze two bank accounts in which they said the Mahers had about $1 million.

Investigators say the typical Ponzi scheme attracts its marks by offering unusually large returns on investments. Early investors tend to be paid, but are paid with money coming in from later investors.

Once the new money stops, investigators say, the pyramid collapses.

The Mahers are free on $10,000 bond each. They face up to 35 years in prison if convicted.